Sixers seek $82M

The Philadelphia 76ers are seeking to have taxpayers pay back the entire $82 million projected cost of a new practice facility and business offices in Camden, New Jersey, one of the nation's most impoverished cities.

Comment

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

poconorecord.com

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posted Jun. 10, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posted Jun. 10, 2014 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

The Philadelphia 76ers are seeking to have taxpayers pay back the entire $82 million projected cost of a new practice facility and business offices in Camden, New Jersey, one of the nation's most impoverished cities.

Under a proposal being considered Tuesday by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the team would receive up to $8.2 million a year in tax credits for 10 years. It would be one of the highest profile uses so far of a new system of business expenses adopted last year by New Jersey's Democrat-controlled Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

The team — the only one in the NBA without its own practice facility — has not provided details on its plan for a 100,000-square-foot facility on the Delaware River, such as how many jobs it may provide. Team CEO Scott O'Neil said in an email on Monday that he would not comment.

Projects in Camden get special treatment under the Economic Opportunity Act's Grow New Jersey program. "It really reflected the lack of investment that the city has achieved," Economic Development Authority President Timothy Lizura said ON Monday.

Extra incentives for developing in the city may have another component: Camden is a priority for some top Democratic state lawmakers. One, state Sen. Donald Norcross, lives across the street from the 76ers' site.

Unlike elsewhere in the state, taxpayer subsidies in Camden can cover the full cost of investment. To qualify for as much as the NBA team is seeking, a business would have to have 250 full-time jobs.

Elsewhere in New Jersey, businesses have to show their projects can generate 110 percent of their subsidy amount in state and local taxes in 20 years. But Camden developments can be approved with projections that they will bring back as little as 100 percent of their grants — and they have 35 years to do it.

Businesses that receive the grants must agree to stay in Camden for 15 years, and they can receive smaller tax credits any year employment drops below 250.

Speaking in Camden on Monday, Gov. Chris Christie said the project will provide jobs in New Jersey and send a message that the city, which has long struggled with crime, is now safe enough that businesses are willing to move there.

"It's not only good because it would be additional tax revenue and other things and business for the city of Camden, but also for the image of the city of Camden, to show that the Philadelphia 76ers — one of the major sports teams in the region — has enough confidence in the strides that we're talking about making here that they are willing to invest significantly in the city of Camden is a good thing for Camden," Christie said at a news conference. "And if it's good for Camden, it's good for New Jersey."

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter last week smarted over the likelihood of losing the headquarters of a second professional sports team to New Jersey. The NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, who share Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center with the 76ers for games, practice in Voorhees.

"If you have tens of millions of dollars that are being thrown at you just to entice you to do something," Nutter said on Friday, "that's a business decision that someone has to make."